However, everything changed when I received a call on vacation in August 2021 to go for a relay run with my colleagues, because one member fell out. For a month I trained a bit, it turned out great and I got to like MMM. The very next year, therefore, I set myself the goal of a half-marathon, which I didn’t manage under the planned 2 hours, but it was still a great experience.<\/span><\/p>\n The next jubilee 100th year, of course, the entire marathon had to follow. I didn’t run during winter at all, I started about half a year before the event, and very slowly at that. But then I quite successfully managed to follow the training plan, which I randomly downloaded from the Internet. At the time, I thought it would all go smoothly. It was during this preparation that I finally started to enjoy running and I learned a lot about it. Of course, I enjoyed the training sessions with my family, friends and colleagues the most, which were usually unplanned and we ran into each other by accident during the run \ud83d\ude42 And then I got stopped \u2013 a month before the marathon I pulled a muscle and had to stop training for 2 weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n But I didn’t give up and on October 1st I stood at the start. Eventually, my legs started to hurt at about 25 km. The last 10 km were harder and I felt they were longer than the first 32. In the end, I was unable to meet the set goal of less than 4 hours. However, I’m already looking forward to next year, when I’ll be able to improve my time.<\/span><\/p>\n Bianka (21 km)<\/b><\/p>\n Over the years, my relationship to running has shifted from hatred (especially to longer distances), through the relay, to this year’s successful half-marathon. Initially, I thought it would be my last run, but the opposite is true. The amazing atmosphere of the race itself and the desire to improve confirmed to me that starting running was a good idea. So again next year, and I believe with a better time \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n \u013dudo (21 km)<\/b><\/p>\n Since I’ve been working in bart, the Ko\u0161ice marathon has become an annual challenge for me. Endurance runs aren’t my strong suit, and it’s this event that forces me to work on this shortcoming of mine.<\/span><\/p>\n This year, I devoted only a minimum of time to preparation, but at least I tested my muscle memory in practice. The first phase of preparation was an all-inclusive holiday, where I gained calories that then had to be burnt. \ud83d\ude00 Subsequently, I spent a whole month intensively training. It ended quite well eventually, as I improved my time from last year a bit.<\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps it was also the fact that this year’s marathon was really unique – both in terms of the number of participants and fans. They created a great atmosphere and cheered on us to such an extent that one had to track whether they weren’t running too fast in order not to burn out immediately at the beginning. Summing up, this is the first time I’ve experienced such an atmosphere at MMM, and I believe that it’ll escalate every year. Just like my pace \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n Marek (42 km in the pacer position with a target time of 3:30)<\/b><\/p>\n This year, I had another go as a pacemaker. And if I were to find out what was different at the hundredth MMM compared to the previous ones, I’d think about considerateness and tolerance. Among the last 14 marathons I competed in Ko\u0161ice, there was definitely the highest number of runners this year. However, the streets are still narrow and the capacity was clearly on edge. It would be very difficult to work our way as faster runners through slower marathon and half-marathon runners. But I have to say that everyone behaved very considerately, they gave way to our faster group and even in the crowd it was amazing.<\/span><\/p>\n \u0160afo (42 km)<\/b><\/p>\n A few years ago, after the MMM, my colleagues and I agreed to run the entire marathon for the 100th year. It was a spontaneous idea at the time, gently influenced by the alcohol in the blood \ud83d\ude42 But since we said it out loud, we said to ourselves that we just had to fulfill it. And so it happened. When applying for MMM 2023, we signed up for the whole marathon and I set myself the goal of running it in under 4 hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The training was difficult and it was necessary to include many more long runs (20 km+), so I started preparing at the beginning of the year. Every month I managed to run a bit more kilometers than the previous one. This difficult preparation eventually paid off for me. I ran the marathon in 3 hours and 58 minutes. And I even enjoyed it very much, especially for the fantastic atmosphere.<\/span><\/p>\n Dominik (33 km)<\/b><\/p>\n I remember leaving school one day a long time ago and seeing a billboard with an “ad” for the marathon. It was about the 87th year then and I was mentally counting how old I would be when the jubilee hundred would be planned. At the time, it didn’t even cross my mind that I could be a part of something like this. During that time, however, I went through several relay years. Then came the half-marathons and this year I decided to do the full length.<\/span><\/p>\n I may not have had as many training sessions as I should have had, but I believed that if I planned it well, it would be fine. Target was under 4 hours. The first 30 km I ran perfectly fine, I enjoyed the unrepeatable atmosphere. But then came a kilometer where everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong, and I wasn’t able to continue. So I wrapped it up at 33 km. You also need to know how to lose…<\/span><\/p>\n I’m taking away a good experience. I will definitely not stop running, maybe just the opposite – now I have even more commitment to other sports goals.<\/span><\/p>\n Luk\u00e1\u0161 (21 km)<\/b><\/p>\n This year’s half-marathon was my third, but I enjoyed it the most of all. I didn’t have high goals: to reach the finish line, not to rush (but not to have a worse time than last time), and above all to enjoy the atmosphere of the centenary. I fulfilled everything and it was really great. Now my next goal is to keep the habit and improve my time.<\/span><\/p>\n Pali (21 km)<\/b><\/p>\n I have participated in MMM three times so far \u2013 the first time I ran a shorter section of the relay, a longer section a year later, and this time it was the half marathon. I trained straight up – for short and long distances, both on the flat surface and in the hills, and I didn’t even leave out the intervals. The reward was breaking my personal record with an official time of 2:05. But there’s still room for improvement \ud83d\ude42 Who knows, maybe next year I’ll push my boundaries again.<\/span><\/p>\n Mirka (42 km in the position of a pacer with a target time of 4:00)<\/b><\/p>\n This year was especially powerful for me in terms of the huge trust that people put in us, pacers. During the run, I stopped at about 15 kilometers and looked at where our 4-hour group actually ended. It was perhaps 80 to 100 meters long! I don’t dare say how many people were in it, but out of a sense of responsibility and amazing trust of so many runners, my stomach tightened and my knees slightly buckled. At the same time, it also gave me an extra dose of energy.<\/span><\/p>\n I also appreciate the runners who came with us and unexpectedly took on some of our tasks. They took water at refreshment stations for a runner who ran next to them, cleared the way with us when there were more people on the track, or served grape sugar from us to people who were further at the back. Thank you<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Image_20231001_141342_010.jpeg\")
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